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by TortillaGuy



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Precious Peter Parker, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-31
Updated: 2019-05-31
Packaged: 2020-04-05 07:35:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19044037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TortillaGuy/pseuds/TortillaGuy
Summary: Peter and Tony are finally reunited after the final snap, and things are going back to normal. Unfortunately, Peter doesn't feel like he belongs in Tony's new life, but nothing could be further from the truth.





	Home

Finally, after five years of nonexistence and two months of readjustment, Peter was happy. He had reunited with Aunt May and gotten into the habit of telling her he loved her daily, he had found Ned and the two, after some relieved tears, had helped each other cope, and he had gone back to being Tony’s assistant and creating new technologies with him. He had found his old friends, met new ones, and his life was back on track. Everything was just so... good. Even before the snap, Peter couldn’t recall feeling as great as he did now. He figured it was relief mingled with that sweet nostalgic feel of reunion, all the while with the promise of an actual future. The world was his, and he understood it now. He started having fun like he wouldn’t have dreamed of before. He went out on weekends, joined more clubs, became more social. Peter Parker’s social media presence grew as Spiderman’s did. His life was golden, and he was trying to love every part of it.  
He and Tony stood in Tony’s makeshift lab, passing tools back and forth and working mostly in silence, music ebbing in the background. Peter was leaning against the workbench, tinkering with a contented smile, in no rush whatsoever. He glanced over at Tony, who was wholly absorbed in his project. Peter hummed and scratched the back of his head. There had been something he’d been meaning to say for a while now.  
“Uh, Tony?” His quiet voice seemed close to a shout when he broke the silence. Tony flinched and his eyes snapped out of their focus.  
“Oh, you spooked me, kid. What’s up?”  
Peter fidgeted with a pair of wire strippers.  
“Well, it’s... uh, I just wanted to say thank you. Y’know, for lab days and the internship and all that time I spent at the compound... thanks. It really meant a lot to me, and... I’m not sure if I ever told you.” Peter stared at his hands, feeling himself blush. He couldn’t look Tony in the eye—half out of embarrassment and half out of the part of the message he left off.  
He did glance up when he heard Tony sniff and swore he saw him wipe his eyes. Tony cleared his throat and tried to keep his voice even.  
“Yep, no problem, kid.” He returned to his project, and Peter returned to stewing in the pain of the half-complete message. He knew he needed to tell Tony he was leaving, leaving his house without plans to return very often, if at all. He knew he needed to tell him, he knew it was what Tony wanted to hear, but even the thought of saying it made him sick to his stomach.  
Peter sighed. He put down the wire strippers and tapped on the table.   
Tony has a family now, Peter thought. A real family. He has a wife and a daughter and he’s gonna wanna spend time with them, not me. I’ve annoyed him long enough and taken up enough of his time. I know he wants me out of his hair; he just doesn’t wanna say anything. So why is it so hard for me to say something?  
Peter kept drumming his fingers on the table until he noticed Tony looking at him.  
“Thinking about something, kid?”  
Peter grabbed the wire strippers again.  
“Nope. No. All good.” He gave Tony a wide smile.  
“Uh-huh,” Tony said, eyebrow raised. When Peter didn’t answer, he shook his head and turned back to his work.

~~~

Peter squirmed in his chair at dinner. He couldn’t seem to find a good place for his hands. He set them in his lap, then on the table, then his knees, then he used them to clutch his utensils and inspect them. Luckily, the Starks were having a lively conversation and didn’t notice. Peter nodded whenever Tony or Pepper finished speaking and looked at him, and he gave Morgan a weak smile whenever she rambled on about whatever topic crossed her mind. Meanwhile, he turned over the dilemma in his head.  
I’m an intruder. I shouldn’t be here. Look at them. They’re so happy, and I’m just getting in their way. That’s it. He’s done so much for me, and I repaid him by never leaving him alone. I’ll tell Tony tonight, right after dinner.  
He set his fork down definitively, earning sidelong glances from Tony and Pepper.   
“Everything good?” Tony asked.   
“Oh, uh, yeah. Everything’s good. I’m just, uh, thinking.” He tried to form a convincing smile.  
Pepper’s face held skepticism.   
“Sure,” she said. “Well, what were the two of you working on today? Anything mind-blowing?”  
Tony leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms.   
“Not to brag, but yes, actually. Care to tell her, Peter?”  
Peter sucked in a breath. He’d been so focused on how to tell Tony his plans that he hadn’t really paid any attention to what they’d been doing. What did he do in the lab besides fumble with tools? He knew he did something, at least Tony did something. He was supposed to be helping, watching if nothing else. There was something about… resistors? Capacitors? There was a blue electrical box… was that part of it? Did Tony say anything during his work? Yes, he did, but Peter couldn’t remember what.  
“Um, well, it has to do with the… capacitance of the… uh…” Peter racked his mind for any key words he’d heard Tony mention earlier. He tried to avoid looking at him, but he did see him roll his eyes and turn towards Pepper.   
“What my brilliant protege means is that it has to do with the capacitors’ recharge time. You see--” Tony launched into one of his long, overly-detailed explanations that Peter would normally love to hear and take part in, but between the sarcasm and the disappointment, he wasn’t in the mood. He held his face rigidly neutral as his mentor rambled on. He felt heat behind his eyes, and stared at the ground to be sure Pepper and Tony couldn’t see if they were getting red. Morgan had quickly lost interest in Tony’s lecture and was trying to get Peter’s attention. He looked up at her and forced a smile, and she reached for his arm. He took her hand and patted it. A sadness he’d been fighting blazed in his brain. When Tony paused to take a breath, Peter quietly excused himself and went upstairs. Morgan protested, and Tony paused with his mouth open, watching him leave.  
“One sec, Pepper,” he said, as they heard Peter’s door shut.  
Peter picked up a bag from his closet and began stuffing clothes and textbooks in it. When his chemistry book couldn’t be forced into it, he dropped the bag and fell onto his bed, crying and coughing, letting the expensive sheets Tony bought for him dry his face. He was gasping, trying to keep himself quiet, when there was a soft knock on the door.   
Without waiting for a response, Tony walked in. Peter tried to hide his face in his pillow (memory foam, also courtesy of Tony), but he was only half successful. Tony saw his red face and felt his heart wrench. He couldn’t stand it. Peter was acting so weird at dinner, and he was so quiet in the lab, and now this? What was going on? Tony’s gut panged. Was it what he said at dinner? He knew Peter could be sensitive, but it was only a bit of sarcasm. He didn’t actually mean anything by it, just that Peter wasn’t paying attention earlier when he explained the project… Tony swallowed a lump in his throat. He stepped forward and put his hand on Peter’s back.  
“Peter, is this about what I said earlier? I’m sorry, I didn’t think that you’d be this upset--”  
“No, it’s not that. It’s not that at all,” Peter said, head still stuck in the pillow. Great, he thought. Not only did I screw up his family dinner, but now I made him think he made me cry. I need to get out of here. He needs me to get out of here.  
“I’m sorry, Mr. Stark, it’s not anything you said. It’s just that… I’m gonna leave soon, okay? I’ll leave tonight and I’ll get out of your hair. I swear it. Just give me time to pack.” Peter sat up and wiped his face with his sleeve.  
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, what do you mean you’re gonna leave tonight? Just where do you think you’ll go?” Tony fell silent and stared at the ground. When he spoke again, his voice was barely above a whisper. “Why are trying to leave? What happened? Please, tell me.”  
It was Peter’s turn to be silent. Tony turned to him, eyes pleading.  
“Please, Peter, tell me why. I want to help. I want to know why. Please, I just got you back after five years of hell.” There were tears threatening to spill over. Peter softened, mouth open.  
“Five years of hell?” he asked. His mind raced. “What do you mean? You made a family. You had Morgan, and you got a new home, and you and Pepper have never been closer… and… and everything is so great.” He began crying again. “Everything is so fantastic Tony, and you built this whole life in the years I was gone, and now I’m just in the way, and I’ve gotta go, Tony, ‘cause your life is starting up and I don’t wanna interrupt it, I really don’t… so I gotta go. I’ll go tonight, if you want.”  
Tony’s face was frozen, minus the small streams of tears.  
“Peter,” he said, eyes locked on the floor, “You are not in the way. You have never been in the way. Never. I love you, kid. That’s why you’re here. Not because of some act of charity or because I pity you or something; you’re here because I want you to be. You’re here because you’re part of my family, and I don’t wanna live another day without you. You’re my kid, Peter. Same as Morgan, and I love you just the same. You should never feel like I don’t care about you or Pepper doesn’t or Morgan doesn’t. You should never feel like you don’t belong here. You do. You’re a huge part of my life, Peter. Not a nuisance, not some annoying kid that I made the mistake of telling him where I lived, not anything like that. You’re my kid, Peter. What can I say besides that?”  
Peter heaved another sob. He cried into his hands for a while, letting Tony stroke his back.  
“I’m sorry I let you think that, Peter.”  
Peter straightened his back, and looked at Tony through blurry eyes. He lunged forward and hugged him with the remainder of his strength. Tony smiled and wiped off his own face. He pulled Peter closer to him, and let his shirt absorb the rest of his kid’s tears.


End file.
